Frozen
by Kygolie
Summary: It was all just a bad dream. Time was frozen. Reality was a nightmare, and happiness was only in our memories. AU One-shot. Rated T for violence. I did post this one in one of the One-Shot books, but decided to tweak it and make it it's own.


**Disclaimer:** DNON. Really. I don't, so don't sue me and stuff.

**Dedication:** _Youlove52. I recently got a PM from You and it prompted me to get off my lazy behind and actually do something productive. Well, I guess this is something productive? Anyways, I think you kindly and I hope you enjoy this very angsty story. Sorry that it isn't bubble gum and glitter. I kind of wish it was. Haha. Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading it._

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><p><span>Frozen<span>

Time had stopped. What should have been no longer applied to the world they currently inhabited. What had happened was already long passed and the world around them was no longer their own. The infinite amount of destroyed buildings surrounding the small group of people seemed cold. Despite their close proximity to them, they seemed absolutely distant. This was their life; the future they had to pass on to the generations after them and it was absolutely terrifying.

The quiet breeze blew the brown headed girls overgrown bangs from her stunning hazel eyes. She held a foreign object in her hand, the tip of the sharp toy gleaming in the rising sunlight as she studied it, curiosity filling the round orbs that were snuggly housed in the sockets of her skull. Her calloused fingers traced the handle; the ridges of the darkened covering caused a small shiver to rise up the young woman's arm.

"Hey," A deep voice behind the distracted girl called, but it did not pique her interest, "You're going to be yelled at again."

The man came to a stop behind the crouching woman, his hands gripping the slightly protruding bones of his hips. A small muscle rippled within his stomach as he took a breath of the tainted air surrounding them. The dark miasma almost choked him and he wondered why the woman before him always found the need to come here.

To him, it was nothing more than a wasteland, a part of their past that they would have soon forgotten. He would have liked to forget, but his petite companion always managed to make him remember. His long dark tresses slid down his shoulder as he came to his knees beside her, his opaque eyes studying the expression on her dirt stained face.

The girl did not acknowledge his presence; instead she cradled the blade between her bony fingers and began wiping it delicately with a cloth she had pulled from the bag on her hip. The man at her side, recognizing the faraway look that overtook her entire face, just sat there in silence, watching her fingers move over the precious trinket.

A time of happiness reflected in her dark orbs, a tiny crinkle formed at the edge of her eye lids as a small smile began to tug at her chapped lips.

"I haven't seen you smile in a long time." His voice was nothing more than a mumble, as if he were speaking to himself, but the girl heard it all too well as it was the only sound other than the buzzing of nearby insects.

After the silence between them became stagnate and the man had figured the creature beside him continued to dally in her fantasy, the girl finally spoke, "I remembered."

His eyes were stripped from the blade of grass he had absently began twirling between his thumb and forefinger and landed on the smiling face of his companion. Her eyes closed as a small tear gathered at the edge of her long lashes. The smile on her face caused a tightening in his chest that he hadn't felt in a long time.

"I remembered." She repeated her previous statement in a voice that was filled with her unshed tears. He understood what she was speaking of, but he wished he didn't as her broken smile stretched her sunburned cheeks, the freckles that he had become so familiar with capturing his attention as the sun rose in the sky, shining it's light on the girl before him.

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><p>"<em>Look out!"<em>

_Shouts and cries of utter terror filled the air as loud explosions sounded in the distance. Men in dirtied uniforms surrounded a small group of women and children as a large explosion went off mere yards from them._

"_We have to get them out of here!" A woman's voice filled the sudden quiet; it echoed off of the surrounding buildings as a few of the large buildings crumbled to the ground near her. She gripped the helmet atop her head as she grabbed the hand of a sobbing child that had been separated from the pack. She practically shoved him towards a woman who had stood to usher him over to the other children._

"_We're surrounded, Captain!" A young man, no more than the age of sixteen rushed over to the taller woman, his breathing ragged. A wound bled out onto his already blood soaked coat, but he held a hand over it to keep it from her view. The woman, not being distracted by his outburst turned towards the men covering for the pack of women and children._

_She pointed a finger at a particularly burly man and barked an order at him, her voice steady despite the chaos around her, "Get those women and children out of here. If there's no exit, make one!"_

"_Yes, ma'am!" The man saluted the woman which she waved off before turning back to the young man before her, the group slowly shuffling away from the two. The boy looked frightened, as though he would burst into tears at any given moment. The woman knew too well that there was no time for him to be crying. She gripped his wounded arm, causing him to cry out in pain and shoved him in the same direction that the pack had just gone._

"_Follow them! Don't let anything happen to them!" He stuttered a reply as he took several steps back, his fear filled green orbs watching only for a few seconds before he turned his back from her. She stared at him, a hardened look in her eye as he retreated. _

_Once he was out of her sight, she turned towards the source of the explosions, taking the helmet that she had tucked under her arm and covering her exposed cranium with it. A look of resolve filled her eyes as she turned towards the roof of a barely standing building, her brown eyes locking with opaque ones. The man stood over her, his dark locks flowing behind him as an explosion went off and blew rumble all around them both._

_He nodded, as if answering her unasked question before disappearing into the dust that covered the entire perimeter. A figure caught the eye of the young woman, the dull orbs turning towards the man. He was tall, taller than what she remembered, but at this point, her mind could not be trusted with anything other than the very dangerous figure that stood before her. His lifeless yellow eyes locked onto her, sizing her up. _

_She had already made her resolve, and had no desire to think of her own safety, but was intent on saving the innocent lives that were entrusted to her. The woman removed the large sword that she had strapped to her back before running to duck behind a large piece of rubble. Her fingers shook, the lack of energy providing food that she had been unable to consume causing her already weak body to tremble. She knew that the large wall wouldn't hold up against his power, and she was mentally prepared to take anything he was going to throw at her. _

"_Hide and seek? How fun." The bony man's voice echoed off of the buildings, the explosions in the distance stopping completely. Her ears rang, unaccustomed to the silence that came with it. Her heartbeat could be heard, she was sure, as she stayed hidden behind the crumbling structure. The man's shuffling steps were the only thing registering in her mind as he came closer. Her hiding was futile; she knew, but the only thing that was holding her upright was the hard surface of the crumbling wall behind her back. _

"_Don't come any closer!" The girl's loud voice bounced back at her, causing her head to become hazy but she forced herself to stay conscious. She had lost track of the amount of days she had been without rest, constantly running, constantly watching out for the safety of those tiny lives. _

_The man let out a pig like sound from his nostrils, a grin pulling at his thin lips as his tongue creeping out to moisten them with his saliva, "Why hide when it's so much fun out here!?" His voice gradually rose as he began his attack, raising his hand above his head. A particularly large explosion went off mere feet from her, causing her to stumble away from her hiding place and out into the open to avoid being hit by the blast. A piece of shrapnel sliced the exposed soft flesh of her neck, causing a large amount of her precious red fluid to come pouring out._

_Her brown eyes landed on the man as she gripped the large wound, trying to hold in the crimson liquid that kept her alive. She forced the end of her large sword into the ground, using it as a crutch to keep her from crumbling like the buildings that surrounded her. His body seemed completely relaxed while she was tense, every tendon in her body straining to hold her upright. Without anywhere to hide, she raised the weapon in her arms, setting the sights on the monster that stood before her. She had to keep his eyes on her, not letting him pass. _

_She knew that her life would be lost, but if she were able to just keep him busy long enough to allow the innocents to escape then her duty had been done. Nothing else mattered to her. _

'_Stay alive, Tenten.'_

"_I'd love to play," His voice snapped her out of her drifting thoughts, "But I have some killing to do."_

_With a flick of a finger, not using much energy at all, he set off an explosion just inches from her feet, causing her to fly backwards. Her back slammed into the remains of what used to be a building, the bones making up her spine cracking under the pressure of her weight. The world around her became hazy and her ears were ringing, the ability to hear taken from her completely as the man came to a stop over her. His lips were moving but she couldn't hear his words, a smug smirk tugging at those disgusting lips. She wished she could just tear them from his face. _

_As she faded in and out of consciousness, the man vanished, deciding to not finish her off. _

_She no longer knew what was going on around her. Had the explosions stopped? Did he get bored and leave? As her consciousness began to slip away, she lost track of time. Her body was caked in blood but she didn't know if it was hers. The wound on her neck bled out a pool of the sticky life liquid as it poured down her neck and onto the front of her uniform. She couldn't feel it or see it, but she knew it was there._

'_Stay alive, Tenten.'_

_A familiar voice filled her head, and she wanted to scream at the voice to shut up; not to tell her what to do. She wished she could tell the owner of the voice what she was feeling, to let him know just how scared she was at that very moment. She truly didn't want to die on that day, but part of her wondered if dying would be better than living in this world of nothing but war and Hell._

_Her cracked and blood stained lips opened slightly, her shallow panting filling the air around her as a single word slipped out before she lost complete consciousness, "Neji…"_

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><p>The young man gripped the woman's hand, the sharp blade slicing one of her fingers as it fell from her grasp. He tugged her to him, gripping the tiny appendage with the shallow cut, her blood dripping between their clasped fingers. She did not resist him as she landed against his chest, his arms and scent encircling her small frame. He remembered what had happened on that day several years ago. He had silently hoped and prayed to whatever being that decided to look down at them, that her memory would stay locked and hidden deep inside the back of her brain.<p>

"I killed them…" She muttered into the cloth covering his large chest, but he pretended not to hear her, holding her as close as he possibly could. A small squeak exited her lips when his embrace became painful. He did not release her as the sun began hovering high above them.

"No," His voice was quiet as he lowered his head next to hers, his lips brushing against her ear as he whispered consoling words into it. Her body quaked with her silent sobs while her salty tears soaked his chest. Her frail body was practically swallowed by his as she gripped the back of his shirt, her fingers shaking from the force.

The time that surrounded the girl in his arms had stopped. Nothing around her seemed real; the air that entered the sacks inside of her rib cage was stale, as though it was locked away in a dark place for an unimaginable amount of time. The world around her was frozen; her memories were nothing more than nightmares. There was no such thing as happiness.

It was all just a bad dream.

_Time was frozen. Reality was a nightmare, and happiness was only in their memories._

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><p><strong>AN**: I don't really have a lot to say about this. I just started typing and this is what came out of it. I've never actually written anything like this. (If you've read any of my other stuff, you'd know that this is true.)

I'm not sure if it even makes sense. (It might to those with a darker outlook? Maybe? No? Okay.) I was mostly winging it. I know nothing about war and fight scenes. (Can you tell?) I'm more of a romance/lemon writer. :D

I kind of wrote this as an apology to those who enjoy reading my stories, as I have been MIA for an unimaginable amount of time. I'm at a loss on what to do with any of my other stories right now. I know; it's a crappy apology. Please, forgive me anyways!

Anyways, please comment and tell me if it was any good.

And, if anyone has any ideas to suggest for my other works, that would be great!

TTFN

~Ky-chan


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